sauerkrautcowboys

Saturday, October 21, 2017

I've been visiting Willie Jones, the American-born singer whose been based in Germany for more than 30 years and is one of the standouts on the European country scene. He has a new compilation CD coming out this fall, and I wrote the liner notes.

Willie is one of the first people I met in Europe's Imaginary Wild West -- back in 2003, when he was the strolling singer at the Pullman City wild west theme park (I was writing an article for the New York Times on European wild west theme parks). We went on a memorable road trip to a country roadhouse in southern Bohemia ... the first time I heard "The Okie From Muskogee" sung in Czech.... I last saw his about a year and a half ago, at the "mini Dobrofest" festival in Trnava, Slovakia (which I wrote about HERE).

Last night I went with Willie to a club gig in a village in Bavaria, near Regensburg: he played bass backup for a German duo called Bud 'n' Cellar, and also sang....country-infused rock and pop.

The club was packed -- and the fans demanded -- DEMANDED -- DEMANDED -- that they play "Country Roads" -- two times! I have posted about the significance of this song in the European country scene.

I was particularly fascinated by the tattoos sported by one of the group's friends. He wore his enthusiasm on his skin.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

This is slightly off topic, but here's an article I wrote for Hadassah Magazine about the involvement of American Jews in bluegrass and Americana music, focusing on the current crop of musicians but also providing some background on what is a decades-long involvement.

Banjo picker Eric Lindberg loves with a passion the
distinctive harmonies of the acoustic country music known as bluegrass.
However, he says, as a Jew, he long felt “a bit out of the loop.

“Much of the work from the inception and early days of
bluegrass is deeply spiritual and Christian based,” says the
dark-haired, darkbearded 30-something Lindberg, who also plays guitar.
“Musically, I could connect with the songs on every level, but my
identity as a Jew from Brooklyn always kept me from truly identifying
with them.”

The solution? He and his wife, singer Doni Zasloff, formed a bluegrass band called Nefesh Mountain whose
original songs meld bluegrass and old-time licks with lyrics reflecting
Jewish traditions. “Nefesh is a Hebrew word which loosely translates as
the soul or animating spirit of all living things,” they explain on the
band’s website. “The mountain is a cross-cultural symbol used widely in
Jewish text as well as in bluegrass and old-time musical forms.”

Bluegrass and old-time are two different approaches to
traditional 20th-century American roots music, performed by ensembles
made up mainly of stringed instruments such as fiddle, banjo, mandolin
and guitar.

Nefesh Mountain’s 2016 debut album featured bluegrass
greats Sam Bush, Mark Schatz, Scott Vestal, Rob Ickes and Gary Oleyar,
and it included songs called “Singin’ Jewish Girl” and “Adonai Loves
Me.” Lindberg and Zasloff are among the current crop of musicians who
blend their deep-seated Jewish identities with an equally deep
connection to traditional roots music—a fusion that some performers and
critics dub “Jewgrass.”

[...]

New Orleans-based Mark Rubin, 51, a veteran of both the American roots and klezmer scenes, takes a different tack on his new album, Songs for the Hangman’s Daughter.
In songs such as “Southern Jews Is Good News” and “Teshuvah,” Rubin,
who was born in Stillwater, Okla., bluntly attempts to reconcile his
experience as a culturally Jewish musician in the American South.

“It is not religious music in the usual sense,” says music
critic Ari Davidow. Rubin “is in-your-face about who he is and how he
doesn’t fit stereotypes. He is not just making a statement to
anti-Semites who see Jews as aliens, but also to Jews of the coasts who
find it alien to imagine that there are Jews who live in redneck
territory, proudly embracing redneck values.”

The involvement of Jews with American roots music goes
back decades, to the folk and old-time music revival that kicked off in
the late 1950s and in which Jewish musician, musicologist and filmmaker
John Cohen was a key figure. (Today, one of the top bluegrass artists is
Jewish musician Noam Pikelny, recipient of the first annual Steve
Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass in 2010, though he
does not address his Jewish identity in his music.)

Mandolin and clarinet virtuoso Andy Statman and
award-winning scholar and performer Henry Sapoznik, now director of the
Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture at the University of Wisconsin,
were both pioneers of the klezmer revival movement. They had been
steeped in old-time and bluegrass before turning to Yiddish sources in
the 1970s.

Friday, July 14, 2017

I've just learned about and Iranian-born country artist -- Erfan "Elf" Rezayatbakhsh -- who a founded a country band -- The Dream Rovers -- a few years ago and has tried to bring country music to his home country.

He’s a singer and
songwriter from Tehran, and along with guitar player Ahmad Motevassel,
they are the Dream Rovers.This is not some weird-sounding Iranian techno music with a banjo
slid in there to certify it as “country.” The first album of the Dream
Rovers was a covers record that included old country music classics like
Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons,” and Merle Haggard’s “Hungry
Eyes.” The band first formed as the Persian Rovers in January of 2007,
and shorty after were forced to go on a hiatus after Elf was conscripted
into the Iranian military service. After a few personnel changes, the
band re-formed as the Dream Rovers—Iran’s first country music band.

Here's "Superstar," their first official video, released in 2011. The song was insired by Taylor Swift:

The Saving Country Music article tates:

Though most of Western music in Iran can only exist in forbidden,
underground channels, Elf and the Dream Rovers were able to present
their music publicly at the Sharif University of Technology (SUT) in
Tehran on multiple occasions, and for audiences of more than 500 people.“I was born and raised in a country that has absolutely zero background in country music,” Elf tells Saving Country Music.
“Yet I am very passionate about preserving the true country music,
which is the most important and authentic part of the American heritage
and culture and introduce it to the people of Iran through workshops,
concerts, and the release of albums and singles.”

Here's a video of the band performing at the university:

Elf went on to study country music in the East Tennessee State University’s bluegrass, old time, and country music
program in Johnson City, Tennessee and graduated Summa cum Laude in 2014. He now lives in Canada.

He and his music were brought to my attention by ETSU Prof. Lee Bidgood, who teaches in the old time and bluegrass program -- and who has been a friend, advisor and sounding board on issues of "the imaginary west" and country music outisde the US ever since we met more than a dozen years ago. Lee's book on Czech bluegrass is coming out this fall, and it is he who was the driving force behind the documentary on Czech Bluegrass, Banjo Romantika, in which I am an onscreen commentator.

The Saving Country Music article concludes -- echoing the words and attitudes of many European country artists:

Erfan “Elf” Rezayatbakhsh and the Dream Rovers may not be your next
favorite honky tonk band, but you may also be surprised by their
knowledge of country music and proficiency. Like many country music
artists and bands from non English-speaking countries, some of the
subtleties of the art form can get lost in the translation. But that
says nothing about the heart and dedication Elf has brought to the
music, recording country songs in both English and his native tongue,
and illustrating how even country music, which seems so characteristic
of a specific place, can defy borders, and perforate insular
environments and the inherent differences between the American and
Iranian mindset.“When there is music, nobody thinks of fighting,” says Elf.
“That’s why I came to the United States—not only to study country music
in its homeland, but also to travel to the country which had been
introduced to me by the media in Iran as ‘the enemy’ and ‘the great
Satan’ and see the people, talk to them, and learn about their culture
through them.”

Thursday, July 6, 2017

I’m delighted and excited to have been asked to write the Foreword to “Reiten Wir!”
— an anthology of new short stories based on Karl May characters to be
published in October as part of events and initiatives this year marking May’s
175th birthday.

Gojko Mitic as Winnetou

Proceeds and royalties will go to support the Karl May Museum in Radebeul, Germany.

Karl May theme beer at the Karl May festival in Radebeul, some years back

My first exposure to the Imaginary Wild West in Europe (and Karl May) dates back to 1966, when my family spent the summer in Prague -- my father was leading an archaeological dig in the village of Bylany, near Kutna Hora, east of Prague.

In preparation for writing my Foreword, I dug out the diary I kept that summer -- and where I noted the Czech fascination with Winnetou and the Wild West.

"Cowboys 7 Indians are BIG. Esp. the W. German (I think) movies Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. In almost every store window you see color postcards &/or slides with scenes from the films being sold [;] I have seen Winnetou candy bars, books, a poster in a record store for the Winnetou music etc. W. is apparently the solemn-faced 'Indian' (typically clthed) who looks like either Sal Mineo or Paul Newman (or both). Shirts, brown with fake buckskin fringe & laced neck are advertised as ARIZONA, & next to them re TEXAS blue jeans....[...] More Winnetou junk: iron on patches, special blue jeans, new cards, packs of cards of the actor who plays Winnetou. Magazine cover..."

Karl May and Indian stuff, on display in Germany

Later in the summer, I watched Winnetou, the movie, on television.

"It was a pretty bad movie but interesting for a couple things. The cast was international. Herbert Lom was the baddie & Lex Barker Old Shatterhand. These two are US I think. Pierre Brice (French) was Winnetou. Then there were British & others. I think it was filmed in Yugoslavia. I don't know in what language -- it was dubbed in Czech. This was the first time [in a movie] I ever hear an Indian (Winnetou) who didn't have a deep voice. He was high & thin & nasal. Also, the Indians were goodies."

Our family went to a live performance of the operetta "Rose Marie" (of "Indian Love Call" fame), set in the Canadian west. It starred the pop singer Waldemar Matuska who, I wrote "is a big star here. His pictures are in the shop windows and magazines & record stores almost as much as Winnetou."

I decided that Matuska would be my favorite singer and bought a picture postcard of him (which I still have) to go with the ones I bought of the French actor, Pierre Brice, who played Winnetou in the movies.

Many years later, when I first started seriously researching the Imaginary Wild West and the European country music scene, I met Matuska, who was headlining of the first Czech country festivals I attended (in around 2004).

Matuska, who had moved to the United States in the 1980s, died in 2009.

Matuska was a towering figure in Czech popular music and culture and was
instrumental in popularizing American folk and country music to the
Czech audience. (Singing, as was required under communism, Czech lyrics
to American songs.) He also appeared in the seminal 1964 movie "Limonady
Joe" -- a wonderful send-up of the singing cowboy genre of movies and a
classic of Czech cinema.

Matuska was important to me in my
connection with Eastern Europe, and in my feel for the music and popular
culture of the Czech Republic in particular. He became my idol when, as
a kid, I spent the summer in Prague with my family in the 1960s. I
bought picture postcards of him -- he was lean, bearded and extremely
handsome. And I convinced my entire family to go hear him at a rather
weird performance of "Rosemarie" at a sort of indoor sports
arena...Matuska played the role of the mountie that was taken by Nelson
Eddy in the classic movie. I remember that it was a rather static
performance, as they all seemed to sing to the microphones that were
hanging prominently above the stage...

When I actually met
Matuska decades later, at the Strakonice Jamboree folk and bluegrass
festival in the Czech Republic in 2004, it was a remarkably emotional
experience. I had just begun following the European country scene, and
Strakonice was my first Czech festival. And there he was -- the idol of
my youth!

Matuska -- who had "defected" to the United States in
1986 but, after the fall of communism, returned frequently to CZ to tour
-- was the headline act. Heavier, even bloated-looking, with clearly
dyed hair, he didn't look much like the slim, handsome singer/actor of
the 1960s, but he had the audience in the palm of his hand.

I
went backstage and spent 20 minutes or so talking with him. I felt shy
and fluttery! What I remember are his hands -- very small and delicate,
with polished nails and an almost dainty ring.

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Last Sunday I spent an afternoon at a country western festival in Bologna, Italy. It was the very last day of the two weekends that the festival took place, and I was eager to see what it was like: though I have been to wild west and country festivals in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, France and the Czech Republic, I have only been to a couple of them in Italy.

This one, called "Festival Country," took place at the Bologna Fairgrounds, and it shared space in a cavernous hall with a sort of "October Fest" beer festival (featuring what was presented as German food). In a separate cavernous hall there was a so-called "Irish Festival."

The path to all three led through the grim industrial landscape of the Fair buildings.....

Once there, what did I find?

The scene -- at least on the day I was there -- was a sort of distillation of all the most common stereotypes associated with "the west," "the frontier," "country-western," and, in a certain way, "America." It was almost "paint-by-numbers"-- but refreshingly, in contrast to festivals in other countries, I only saw one Confederate flag.

I was hit by a fist of sound as soon as a entered -- from a band (whose name I didn't get) playing on a stage in the middle of the hall: playing so loud that that the sound was utterly distorted, with only the bass and the beat discernable.

The web site promised shows, concerts, food and drink, "pioneers and westerns", Indian traditions, games, and handicrafts.

At the entrance to the cavernous hall stood a manikin of a Native American, posed outside a tepee as if to pounce.

Nearby, there were basic-type mock ups of a Saloon, a bank, and a corral -- which is where, I believe, shows were staged.

All around the edges there were stands selling cowboy boots, cowboy hats, T-shirts, "western attire" and the usual type of wild west tschotsches -- most of which I rather assume were made in China or somewhere. Unlike at some other festivals I've been so, there was not much of the participatory or performative dress-up.

There was a dance floor for line-dancing (increasingly popular in Italy) in front of the band-stand.

And beyond this were lots of tables where people could eat -- the "western" fare included a variety of (mainly) meats, giant hamburgers and other dishes that to me seemed pretty unappetizing (I ate fish & chips in the Irish festival). This being Italy there was also pasta -- but thanks to the Americanness of it all, it was the first time I have ever seen "spaghetti and meatballs" in Italy.

One thing that was different from some of the festivals I've gone to elsewhere was a series of lectures given on "western" topics, such as western movies. I dropped into one of them -- where an Italian from an organization called Sentiero Rosso (Red Trail) that supports Native American rights was talking about how his group brings aid to Native American families.

I was planning to stay at the festival until evening (the last train back to Florence was at something like 9:30 p.m.), but in fact, I only lasted a few hours....I'm sad to say that was it all so empty, stereotyped, and superficial that it wasn't really fun.

In late October I spent an afternoon at a country western festival in Bologna, Italy. It was the very last day of the two weekends that the festival took place, and I was eager to see what it was like: though I have been to wild west and country festivals in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and the Czech Republic, I have only been to a couple of them in Italy.

This one, called "Festival Country," took place at the Bologna Fairgrounds, and it shared space in a cavernous hall with a sort of "October Fest" beer festival (featuring what was presented as German food). In a separate cavernous hall there was a so-called "Irish Festival:" vaguely Celtic music, and stalls that mainly seemed to sell "Lord of the Rings" type clothing.....

The path to all three led through the grim industrial landscape of the Fair buildings.....

Once there, what did I find?

The scene -- at least on the day I was there -- was a sort of distillation of all the most common cliches and stereotypes associated with "the west," "the frontier," "country-western," and, in a certain way, "America." It was almost "paint-by-numbers"-- but refreshingly, in contrast to festivals in other countries, I only saw one Confederate flag.

I was hit by a fist of sound as soon as a entered -- from a band (whose name I didn't get) playing on a stage in the middle of the hall: playing so loud that that the sound was utterly distorted, with only the bass and the beat discernable.

The web site promised shows, concerts, food and drink, "pioneers and westerns", Indian traditions, games, and handicrafts.

At the entrance to the cavernous hall stood a manikin of a Native American, posed outside a tepee as if to pounce.

Or, of course, post for pictures.

Nearby, there were basic-type mock ups of a Saloon, a bank, and a corral -- which is where, I believe, shows were staged.

All around the edges there were stands selling cowboy boots, cowboy hats, T-shirts, "western attire" and the usual type of wild west tschotsches -- most of which I rather assume were made in China or somewhere. Unlike at some other festivals I've been so, there was not much of the participatory or performative dress-up.

There was a dance floor for line-dancing (increasingly popular in Italy) in front of the band-stand.

And beyond this were lots of tables where people could eat -- the "western" fare included a variety of (mainly) meats, giant hamburgers and other dishes that to me seemed pretty unappetizing (I ate fish & chips in the Irish festival). This being Italy there was also pasta -- but thanks to the Americanness of it all, it was the first time I have ever seen "spaghetti and meatballs" in Italy.

One thing that was different from some of the festivals I've gone to elsewhere was a series of lectures given on "western" topics, such as western movies. I dropped into one of them -- where an Italian from an organization called Sentiero Rosso (Red Trail) that supports Native American rights was talking about how his group brings aid to Native American families.

I was planning to stay at the festival until evening (the last train back to Florence was at something like 9:30 p.m.), but in fact, I only lasted a few hours....I'm sad to say that was it all so empty, stereotyped, and superficial -- and that, despite the razzle dazzle and noise, there was such a lack of energy -- that it wasn't really fun.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Last night was a homecoming of sorts, in Trnava, Slovakia -- an hours-long concert in honor of John Dopyera, who with his brothers invented the dobro, or resonator guitar.

Last night's concert was also billed as a "mini-Dobrofest" -- a much smaller, but still fun successor to the Dobrofest festival that for years took place in Trnava to celebrate the instrument and its creators.

Dobrofest was founded in 1992, just when Slovakia was gaining independence through its "velvet divorce" from the Czech Republic. The country was, subconsciously perhaps, looking for national heroes, and Dopyera became one -- the archetypical local boy who made good, even though he left the country to do so.... Dopyera was born in the village of Dolna Krupa, near Trnava, in 1893 and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1908. They ended up in California...

Year after year, Dobrofest brought top international musicians to Trnava, including the Americans Peter Rowan, Bob Brozman and Jerry Douglas -- as well as local bands.

Here's a video of Peter Rowan performing with the Czech band Druha Trava at Dobrofest in 2005:

I attended it several times, the first time in 2003, when main events were held in the town's main square as well as in other venues, including one of the synagogues.

Last night's concert took place in a music cafe that is part of a huge new stadium and shopping mall complex. I met up with some of my oldest friends in Europe's Imaginary Wild West and country music scene.

The headliner was Willie Jones and his band. A big bear of a man with a full beard, Willie (and bandmember Roman Ac) were two of the very first people I met in the scene -- back in 2003, when he was working as the "singing cowboy" of the Pullman City wild west theme park in Bavaria.

I was working on an article for the New York Times back then, and I followed Willie and Roman on an adventure into the Czech country world.

One of my first experiences in the Imaginary Wild West was, in fact, a cowboy-style party in a country-western roadhouse in a remote village in southern Bohemia....I was led there by Willie Jones, an American who at the time was working as a singing cowboy at the Pullman City wild west theme park in Bavaria. Along with a Slovak bluegrass group, we traveled in a three-car convoy from Pullman City into CZ.

The road house was in a village too small to appear on my map. From the outside it looked like an anonymous village restaurant, but inside it was decorated with Wild West paraphernalia including horseshoes, sepia photographs of Native Americans and Billy the Kid, and a framed arrangement of pistols and playing cards.

The occasion for the party was the 50th birthday of Franz Zetihammel, a figure well known on the Czech and German western show circuit for his portrayals “Fuzzy,” an “old coot” persona harking back to characters played by comic western actors such as Gabby Hayes or Walter Brennan. Fuzzy has long straggly grey hair and beard and never appears in public without his cowboy hat, cowboy boots and turquoise bolo tie and other jewelry.

A Czech country duo got the guests up and dancing with locally written Czech country songs and Czech covers of American hits such as John Denver’s “Country Roads” and even “I’m and Okie from Muskokee.”

One of the party guests, a man in his forties, was dressed head to toe in full cowboy attire, including sheriff’s star and a six-shooter – which Fuzzy at one point pulled from its holster, brandished at the dancers and then fired at the ceiling – fortunately, it was loaded with blanks....

Other artists on the line-up last night were the award-winning Czech guitarist Jakub Racek, the English singer Dave Peabody (who duetted with a Bratislava-born fiddler, the only woman onstage...), and the Slovak dobro player Peter Sabados.

The show last night was MC'd by Peter "Bonzo" Radvanyi -- the bluesy local performer who had been the driving force behind Dobrofest. He ended the show by getting everyone to sing a sort of "Dobro chant" that had ended the festival events in its heyday.

And then he got everyone one stage to do this -- at the very end of the show

I sat with a table of friends in the front row -- they were people who really helped me in my quest to follow the scene over the years and explain the fascination with American country style, country music, bluegrass, and all that goes with it. Thanks guys!

Welcome to the Imaginary Wild West

For several years I've been exploring the imaginary wild west in contemporary Europe -- observing and experiencing the many ways that Europeans embrace the mythology of the American Frontier to enhance, imbue or create their own identities. (Or, indeed, just have fun.) On this blog I will post pictures, stories and links relating to this multi-faceted subculture, from European country music to rodeos, theme parks, round-ups and saloons....

About Me

I'm an American writer, photographer, and public speaker long based in Europe. I've chronicled Jewish cultural developments and other contemporary European Jewish issues for more than 20 years and currently coordinate the web site www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu. My latest books are "National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe," published in 2007, and "Letters from Europe (and Elsewhere)," published in 2008.
I also am working on "Sturm, Twang and Sauerkraut Cowboys: Imaginary Wild Wests in Contemporary Europe," an exploration of the American West in the European imagination for which I won a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship and an NEH summer stipend grant. In 2015 I was the Distinguished Visiting Chair in Jewish Studies at the College of Charleston, SC.